God vs. the Egyptians

7/29/2019 God vs. the Egyptians

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And they believed in God and in Moshe, His Servant:

God Takes Down the Egyptian Empire

Aim: God has to show not only the Egyptians that He is capable of defeating

them; He also has to prove to the downtrodden Israelites that He is more

powerful than their mighty oppressors.

Location, location, location: How is geography an important part of the story?

Mitzrayim is a plural noun. Upper and

Lower Egypt were unified in pre-Dynastic times, before 3500 BCE. Upper Egypt is

below Lower Egypt because the parts of Egypt were named according to the

direction that Nile flows. This shows us how central the Nile was to Egyptian

existence.

In fact, look at how Egyptian cities flank the

Nile. What part of the body does the Nile remind you of?


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Note: The Egyptians believed that the west was the land of the dead, because they

thought when the sun set in the west it was traveling to another land where the

spirits of the dead king lived.

Time laughs at all things, but the pyramids laugh at time. Old Arab proverb

Take a look at the people in proportion to the Great Pyramids at Gizeh. These

monumental structures, from the time of the Old Kingdom, ca. 2500-2400 BCE,

dominated the Egyptian landscape. (Just to put to rest an old misconception: the

Israelites didnt build them. The Exodus story took place about 1000 years later.)

Oriented to the cardinal points of the compass, the pyramids were once faced with

limestone and would have glittered in the sunlight. Their slanted shape mimickedthe suns rays and so the structures stood as reminders that the Pharaoh was an

incarnation of one of the most powerful gods, the sun god Re.

The Pharaohs could and did conscript, or enslave, their people, or peoples they

conquered from other lands, to work on their tombs: for example, Khufus pyramid

is made of 2,300,000 limestone blocks with an average weight of 2.5 tons, and

84,000 workers worked 80 days per year for 20 years to build Khufus pyramid.


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This detailed wall painting is from the tomb of Rekhmire, 15th century BCE, a vizier

to Thutmose III.

Notice on the top register the pool from which slaves take water to keep the mudwet; moving to the right, one can see the slaves shaping the mud into bricks and

then carrying them away once they have dried. In the lower register, slaves make a

mastaba tomb, a tomb that is smaller than a pyramid. One can see the limestone

facing that covers the mud brick.

Death was such an important part

of life to the Egyptians, who thought of life as a cycle of life-death-rebirth. Here are

the tombs studding the Egyptian landscape.


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Now we can better understand the Israelites complaints to Moshe in the midbar:

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And they said to Moshe: Was it for lack of graves that you brought us into thewilderness to die? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt?

So far weve learned: The Pharaoh was a god-like figure in Egypt who

controlled the lives of his people and reminded them of his power by building

colossal statues and gargantuan mortuary complexes. He had utter control

over his subjects lives. How is God going to convince not only the pharaoh of

His power but also a people who have been beaten down by oppression?

First, God starts with Moshe:

Before we turn to Gods encounter with Moshe, we have to understand howimportant MAGIC was to Egyptian life.

Egypt was the land of magic. Here is the Egyptian

god Ptah (petah, like the Hebrew word opening, because he opened his mouth andformed the world). The Egyptians believed in the power of incantations: spoken

words that have magical effects.Abracadabra:Aberah kedabra.

Egyptians used magic to protect, to curse, and to ensure the deads passage to

afterlife. The group therefore to perform magical acts was the priests.


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The dwarf god Bes, who was thought to protect women during childbirth.

And following is a magical incantation the Egyptians would recite to cure someone

of cataracts. They would mix brain-of-tortoise with honey and say:

There is a shouting from the sky

darkness. There is an uproar in the

northern sky. The Hall of Pillars falls

into the waters. The crew of the sun

god bent their oars so that the heads

at his side fall into the water. Who

leads hither what he finds? I lead forth

what I find. I lead forth your heads. I

lift up your necks. I fasten what has been

cut from you in its place. I lead you forth

to drive away the god of Fevers and all

possible deadly arts.

This combination of science and religion was common in the pagan world, and its

interesting to note that the Egyptian empire was quite advanced technologically, as

one can see from pyramid building and the medicinal practice mentioned with this

incantation. Honey does have medicinal properties, we know, and we also have

records of the Egyptians placing moldy bread on wounds ancient penicillin

and conducting such complex surgeries as brain surgery.

So not only did the Pharaohs constantly advance the notion that they are gods

and assert their power with the colossal statues and tombs they built

throughout the kingdom. They also had another daunting trick up their PR


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sleeve: magic, which made them seem mighty and awesome. Dont worry, God

has a plan.

Lets turn to the Torah to see what it is:

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19 And I know that the king of Egyptwill not give you leave to go, exceptby a mighty hand.

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20 And I will put forth My hand, andsmite Egypt with all My wonderswhich I will do in the midst thereof.And after that he will let you go.

Now its more clear why God has to be a kind of magician and do so many wonders

in order for the king of Egypt to letBnai Yisraelgo. Whats interesting is that in

Egypt the Pharaoh did not do his own magic. The priest class did. Pharaoh had his

assistants who did magic. Who is doing the wonders in the case ofBnai Yisrael?

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1 And Moses answered and said:'But, behold, they will not believeme, nor hearken unto my voice; forthey will say: The LORD hath not

appeared unto thee.'

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2 And the LORD said unto him:'What is that in thy hand?' And hesaid: 'A rod.'

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3 And He said: 'Cast it on theground.' And he cast it on theground, and it became a serpent;and Moses fled from before it.

God is doing the magic trick. He asks Moshe: Whats in your hand? and

establishes that it is a rod that turns into a snake, that powerful creature in Egyptian

life. Why is it important to know that Moshe is surprised when the rod turns into a

snake?

Moshe seems to be starting to get the picture, but not completely. Being from Egypt,

he seems to assume God is picking him out as a kind of magical assistant and


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therefore may need Moshe to utter the proper magical incantations. Moshes

insistence that hes not a man of words takes on a whole new meaning with this

interpretation:

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10 And Moses said unto the LORD:'Oh Lord, I am not a man of words,neither heretofore, nor since Thou hastspoken unto Thy servant; for I amslow of speech, and of a slow tongue.'

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11 And the LORD said unto him: 'Whohath made man's mouth? or whomaketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing,or blind? is it not I the LORD?

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12 Now therefore go, and I will be withthy mouth, and teach thee what thoushalt speak.'

God tells Moshe that He doesntneed him to speak, thanks very much anyway. No, it

will be God doing the wonders and Moshe as emissary.

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13 And he said: 'Oh Lord, send, I pray Thee,by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send.'

Send someone else as your AGENT!, Moshe says Moshe understands the role now;

unfortunately, he doesnt want it. Of course, God then gets angry and says to Moshe

that He will have Aharon as a better mouthpiece, setting up Moshe as a main figure

and Aharon as a kind of assistant to counter Pharaoh and his assistants. The

difference, of course, will remain that God is constantly in control of what Moshe

and Aharon are doing.

Side point: Does magic exist?

Ramban thought it did. Rambam, ever the rationalist, did not. He thought all magic

was sleight of hand. Its interesting to note that one of the tricks the Egyptian

magicians do is to turn staffs into snakes. If one holds a snake by its neck, it will

stiffen like a rod, and when one throws the snake down to the floor, it will resume

slithering.


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So Moshe has reluctantly assumed the role of Gods emissary. Now what?

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1 And afterward Moses and Aaroncame, and said unto Pharaoh: 'Thussaith the LORD, the God of Israel:Let My people go, that they mayhold a feast unto Me in thewilderness.'

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2 And Pharaoh said: 'Who is theLORD, that I should hearken untoHis voice to let Israel go? I knownot the LORD, and moreover I willnot let Israel go.'

Ramses II is one possible contender for the Pharoah in Shmot. He reigned from

1279-1213 BCE, during the time of the New Kingdom. His temple, shown above, is

Abu Simbel and is fronted, as you see, by colossal statues of Ramses, 65 ft. high.

In the interior chapel are four gods, Amen-re, a sun god; Raharakht, the true sun god

of Heliopolis; Ptah, a creator god; and Rameses. The temple is oriented to the east,

so that the rays of the early morning sun penetrate this inner chapel and fall on the

two central god figures, Amen-re and Rameses.


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With all this worship of the gods and of himself, the Pharoah, as we know, is not

interested in the Israelite deity. Its not a God he knows and respects. Not a problem

for the Creator: let the plagues begin.

The plagues are going to take down the Egyptian way of life, not only economically

but also religiously. They are going to attack the notion that Pharaoh is god and is in

absolute control of his empire and universe:

Plagues One and Two:Plagues one and two hit the Nile, the life force of Egypt and the place where theExodus story gets started, as Pharaoh had decided to decimate the Israelites by

throwing them into the river.

Two gods, one minor and one major, were associated with the Nile: Hapy, whos

depicted here with bent papyrus stalks in the shape of lungs, showing Egyptian

knowledge of the human body and how Egyptians used that knowledge in symbolic

ways: the Nile was how they breathed, the Egyptians are telling us:


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Hail to thee, O Nile! Who manifests thyself over this land, and comes to give life to

Egypt! Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness, on this day whereon it is

celebrated! Watering the orchards created by Re, to cause all the cattle to live, you

give the earth to drink, inexhaustible one! Path that descends from the sky, loving

the bread of Seb and the first-fruits of Nepera, You cause the workshops of Ptah to

prosper!

Hymn to the Nile, ca. 2100 BCE

Osiris, shown on the left with a green face to represent fertility, was one of the major

gods of Egypt and the main god associated with the Nile. If you recall, the Nile looks

like a spine, and Osiris was considered the backbone of Egypt. He was a resurrection


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god, that is, he came back to life each spring, in a replication of how the Nile flooded

and receded during the spring and winter seasons, respectively. Hitting the Nile,

turning it to blood, was not only an economic disaster but a huge psychological blow

to the Egyptians as their theological beliefs were challenged.

Heqet, the frog goddess, was associated with the moon, as goddesses in the ancient

world often were. The moon was said to control the ebb and flow of water and

therefore anyone who was associated with the moon was a fertility goddess. Heqet

was one of the eight gods or goddesses associated with creation and is the consort ofKhnum, the ram-headed god who molds beings out of clay. Heqets job was to bring

the clay mounds to life. And that is probably why she is the patron goddess of:

MIDWIVES!

So the first two plagues not only undermine a central part of Egyptian life and attack

Osiris, a god central to Egyptian belief, they also right the wrong of Pharaohs decree

to kill the Israelite males.

Plague Three:This one attacks physically and theologically as well, but in a different way.

Commentaries have noted the pattern the plagues follow, of first attacking the land

and then the individual. Weve been saying that the plagues are an attack not only of

the economic but also of the theological way oflife for the Egyptians. Thats true of

the plagues that attacked the peoples bodies.

Herodotus, the famous Greek historian, said of the Egyptians:


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They are very careful to wear newly-washed linen all the time. They circumcise

their children for the sake of cleanliness; they would rather be clean than better

looking.

Cleanliness was next to godliness for the Egyptians in a way it was not for other

ancient peoples, so attacking the body was also a way of attacking Egyptiantheology:

A man says this speech [for the Judgment of the Dead] when he is pure, clean,

dressed in fresh clothes, shod in white sandals, painted with eye-paint, anointed

with the finest oil of myrrh.

Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead

M. Lichtheim,Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.2, p.131

Ancient Egyptian toilet box

Heres a quick list of the rest of the plagues and suggestions for the gods they attack:

1. Nile water into blood

a. Hapi: god of the Nile

2. Frogs

a. Heket, Hekhet, or Heqt: Egyptian goddess of Fertility,

Water, Renewal; frog-headed

3. Gnats or Lice from dust

a. Geb: Egyptian god of the Earth; also

b. Khepri: Egyptian god of creation, movement of the

Sun, rebirth; beetle-headed

c. Thoth: one time considered god of magic,

failed along with magicians (or priests) to duplicate


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conjuring of gnats or lice.

4. Flies (gadflies)

a. Khepri: Egyptian god of resurrection, creation,

movement of the Sun, rebirth; beetle-headed

5. Cattle/livestock disease

a. Hathor: goddess of love and protection; possibly

absorbed Bat, the cow-headed goddess.

b. bull cult gods Apis, Buchis, and Mneuis

c. bulls sometimes considered embodiment of Ptah and Ra

6. Boils

a. Isis: goddess of medicine and peace

b. Im-Hotep: real person turned deity, patron of wisdom and medicine

c. Sekhmet: lion-headed deity of plagues, believed to

bring about or prevent epidemics or pestilence

7. Thunder/hail

a. Nut: Sky goddess

b. Shu: god of air; associated with calm or cooling

c. Tefnut: goddess of water/moisture; linked to sun and moon

d. Seth: associated primarily with chaos

but also thunder, the desert, and infertility.

8. Locusts

a. Senehem: possibly locust-headed, god of protection

from ravages of pests

9. Darkness

a. Ra or Amon-Ra: god of the sun

b. Horus: sky god; sun was his right eye, moon his left.

10. Death of the firstborn


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a. Pharaoh himself

b. Min: god of reproduction

c. Ra: god who was believed to create all things

d. Anubis: god of the dead and embalming;

Ex 11:7 refers to no dogs barking,

possibly referring to jackal(or dog)-headed

Anubis having no power over Israelites during this plague.

It seems that God saves the best for last. We began by showing Pharaoh as the sun

god, whose monuments to himself glittered brightly in the sun and whose power

seemed as unshakeable as the pyramids themselves. But God slowly brings this

great man to his knees, ending the plagues with darkness, an extinguishing of the

celestial object associated with the Pharaoh himself, and the death of the first-born,

who were vital to the Egyptian monarchic system in which the Pharaoh wouldappoint his first-born as successor. The last two plagues even attack the cycle of life-

death-rebirth that the Egyptians loved and that was central to how they viewed and

lived life: God says with the last two plagues that the Pharaoh living now is

extinguished and none will come along to rise in his place.

Moreover, God chooses an emissary who is the antithesis of the Pharoah, the

arrogant, self-centered ruler. Time and again we find examples of Moshes being an

anav. But when we first encountered Moshe, he was reluctant to serve God. Does his

attitude change over the course of his encounters with Him?

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30 Thus the LORD saved Israelthat day out of the hand of theEgyptians; and Israel saw theEgyptians dead upon the sea-shore.

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31 And Israel saw the great workwhich the LORD did upon theEgyptians, and the people fearedthe LORD; and they believed in

the LORD, and in His servantMoses. {P}

We say these important words every day: God accomplished His task. He showed

not only the Egyptians but also the enslaved and hopeless Israelites that He did

indeed have a power mightier than the Pharaohs.


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Moreover, Gods reluctant emissary Moshe becomes a willing servant. Moshe

evolves from being hesitant, even unwilling to do Gods task into a true eved

Hashem. His evolution, juxtaposed as it is with Pharaohs tragic fall, sets an example,

then and now, for Bnei Yisrael, showing us how to turn ourselves away from

narcissistic and dangerous choices in favor of ones that will bring us closer to Godand to a servitude that is not marked by loss of dignity and personal choice but

rather one that enhances our humanity and that of others.

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God vs. the Egyptians